Litani River
LITANI RIVER
River in Lebanon.
Flowing entirely within Lebanon, the Litani rises in the Biqa valley and flows south between the Lebanon mountains to the west and the anti-Lebanon mountains to the east until Nabatiya, where it turns sharply to the west crosses Lebanon and empties into the Mediterranean Sea.
The major Litani development plan, initiated in the 1950s, was concluded in 1966; it includes the Qar'un reservoir and the Awali hydroelectric power station, which utilizes the water diverted via a tunnel. Hydropower and domestic use receive priority over irrigation, and Shiʿa farmers in the south resent this, fearing diversion of all the water to the north.
After 1971, the growth in southern Lebanon of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)—by refugees from the Jordanian Civil War—resulted in a rise in hostilities in that border area with Israel. These led in 1978 to Operation Litani by Israel and the 1982 Arab–Israel War. The fear exists in Lebanon that Israel will divert the Litani to join the Jordan River system, but Israel has replied that this is politically unfeasible.
see also arab–israel war (1982).
Bibliography
Naff, Thomas, and Matson, Ruth C., eds. Water in the Middle East, Conflict or Cooperation? Boulder, CO: West-view Press, 1984.
sara riguer